New York

Apologies for my blogging absence – I’ve been really busy over the last couple of weeks. Here’s what I’ve been up to…

On January 11, I set off for New York. It was actually a company outing – a kind of training weekend/ morale boost/ celebration of the company’s 15th anniversary. My company is pretty small, but it’s owned by a big corporation called Transperfect, which has 750 employees and 50 offices worldwide, so people had been shipped in from all over the globe. The trip was only planned for a couple of days, but I extended it for another two and even took Jon along, as we simply couldn’t pass up this opportunity to see the Big Apple.

The flight took just under six hours, and we arrived at JFK Airport late afternoon on the Friday. That evening we had a night out at BB King’s, a bar/music venue, where (bizarrely) an ‘80’s band from back home in San Francisco were playing! The music was cool and we danced the night away – though not as late as some people – and walked back to the hotel via the bright lights of Times Square.

The hotel itself was great. We stayed at the Grand Hyatt by Grand Central Station on East 42nd Street. We had a lovely room – all paid for by the company, of course! The hotel offered just the right amount of luxury without being pretentious. It also had a great gym which we took advantage of one morning to combat all the over-eating!

Jon went out and amused himself on Saturday, taking in Central Park, the Natural History Museum and the apartment building where John Lennon was shot! I had training and seminars in the hotel all day, which were distinguished by the morning’s keynote speech, given by none other than General Colin Powell! Think what you like about the guy and his policies, he was an amazing speaker. I sat there listening in awe and believed every word as he told us that America is still a great country. However, my colleague Barbara managed to have a chat with one of the organisers after the latter had partaken of a few wines and found how much the General cost – some $125,000!

In the evening we had our company dinner at a venue on one of the piers. The food was good, but the speeches tedious and everything you can imagine cheesy American corporate might be. We had to clear out of the event space pretty early, so I got on the so-called “party bus”, which was headed for a club. The club turned out to be ridiculously crowded, so we all headed off to Greenwich Village and a very English-style tavern. After that, I had much fun hailing a cab New York style (with a fair amount of cursing when someone pushed in front and took “our” cab), and it was back to the hotel. To bed, I thought. But no, someone had the great idea of heading out to a sake bar, which turned out to be closed, so we ended up in an Irish pub and I got busy persuading a random political agnostic to vote Democrat, then before you knew it, it was 4 a.m. Finally got to bed, but less than four hours later it was up again for breakfast (thank God for bacon) and another morning of seminars. Lunchtime couldn’t come soon enough, as that was when we were finally free. My poor colleagues had to head back that afternoon, but Jon and I went off to visit the Statue of Liberty.

The security checks you had to go through before getting on the ferry were a tad ridiculous – more stringent than when you board a plane. However, it was a nice day, if rather chilly, and we had a good, bracing walk around Liberty Island, which was essential to help wake me up! After that, we strolled to Ground Zero, but there was very little to see, other than bulldozers manoeuvring around the foundations of what had once been the World Trade Center. That evening, we went to see the musical, Chicago, on Broadway. It had a minimalist set, but great dancing, and was a lot of fun. Also, the people sitting behind us in the audience sounded just like something out of The Sopranos!

On Monday, we hit Fifth Avenue and the shops, passing by the Rockefeller Center on the way. Saw Tiffany’s of Breakfast at … fame. Some of the stores, like Barney’s, were absurdly opulent. I glanced at the label of an Armani dress and found that it was priced at some $12,000! We then took a stroll around Central Park before heading for the Empire State Building and experiencing the sensation of popping ears as the elevator zoomed us up the eighty-odd storeys to the top. In spite of the fact that it was a rather dreary day, the views were still splendid and helped to impress upon us just what an immense city New York is.

That evening, knowing we had the choice of sampling almost any cuisine, we decided to go out for an Indian, as we both craved a curry and are unable to find a decent one in San Francisco. The guidebook informed us that celebrity Indian chef, Madhur Jaffrey, had a place on the Upper East side. Fearing they might be booked up, we called in advance, but we needn’t have worried. No one here seems to have heard of Madhur Jaffrey here, so we were able to enjoy top cuisine at a reasonable price without having to reserve weeks in advance.

On our last day we visited the United Nations Headquarters and did a tour of the major assembly rooms. It was very informative and well worth doing. Then it was off to the airport for a late flight back to San Francisco and a very busy rest of the week. You can see my New York photos here: http://public.fotki.com/EllenHardwick/new-york/ (password: moocow).

Happy New Year!

Saw the New Year in at a party nearby in North Beach. We went up on the roof to watch the fireworks at midnight, which were spectacular over the skyscrapers of the Financial District. Ended up staying out until 3 a.m. – what were we doing?!

In spite of the late night, I was determined to enjoy New Year’s Day, which was lovely and sunny. Found a hike in my book, bundled Jon in the car and got him to drive me down to Pacifica, a popular surfing spot about 15 miles down the coast. Did a really good hike from there up Mount Montara. It was about 7 miles in total, leading up a valley, on to the summit and down through a pretty eucalyptus forest. Although it was a little hazy, we did enjoy views in every direction. It was easy to pick out the protruding land mass of Point Reyes, the red towers of the Golden Gate peeking up above the city, the pinnacle of Mount Diablo, some 60 miles to the east, floating above the cloud, and the blue expanse of the Pacific to the west.

We had high hopes of going skiing at the weekend, but a big storm was forecast, which scared us off, as road conditions promised to be dreadful. Friday was indeed a very stormy day. Many trees in the city had lost their branches and debris was strewn everywhere. Saturday was also blustery and wet in the morning, but after that things calmed down somewhat. We went to the cinema (Landmark at the Embarcadero, about 25 minutes’ walk away) on Saturday afternoon and saw an excellent Spanish film called The Orphanage, about … well, an orphanage, that is haunted by the ghosts of former residents.

On Sunday we managed to do our jog to the beach at Crissy Fields, which I found really tough, as I hadn’t done it for a long time. I devoted much of the afternoon to planning future weekends. We pretty much have them all mapped out until the end of April now! I also started looking into doing a trip to the Grand Canyon and thinking about a trip to Alaska that I plan to do in the Summer. Before that, we’re off to New York this coming Friday – for business and pleasure! I’m going for training, then taking an extra couple of days, and Jon’s coming with me!

We finished the weekend off at a party of a friend of a friend’s (Gami’s from Italian). It involved a game of post-Christmas White Elephant, which is where you take along a gift (something you have lying around the house and don’t really want), then swap it for another gift that someone has brought along. It’s great fun, as you also get to steal other people’s gifts! Apparently, it’s an American tradition, but definitely one that should be introduced to the UK.

More photos are available on the Fotki site: http://public.fotki.com/EllenHardwick/walks-late-dec--new/ (password: moocow)

Christmas and living the dream

We celebrated Christmas in English style by having a huge dinner comprising turkey with all the trimmings and Christmas pudding, watching the Queen’s speech over the internet and playing board games. There were ten of us in total, which meant starting the cooking at about 9 a.m. and working continuously for several hours to keep everybody fed and watered, but I’m not complaining as I enjoy it greatly: there are so many delicious components to Christmas dinner which make it very rewarding to cook. All the more so when you have an immense American oven and a cavernous American fridge, made for the job. It was a lovely day here, so the views from the apartment were great. In the evening, we had three more guests arrive, which heralded the game of White Elephant Secret Santa (Secret Santa with the added possibility of being able to steal other people’s gifts). A good time was had by all and the pics are available here: http://public.fotki.com/EllenHardwick/christmas-in-san-fran/ (password: moocow).

Health-wise, it wasn’t a very good week for me. I had no appetite after my food poisoning/stomach bug last Saturday night and didn’t start to want to eat again until Thursday. I also managed to catch a cold – probably as a result of having a low immune system and also as a result of people coming into work who should really stay home, but don’t because they don’t get paid, as there’s no sick pay system here. I was at work all week, apart from Tuesday, as there’s no concept of Boxing Day in the States, but it was pretty quiet. Jon had the week off and went to Napa with a couple of friends on Friday, touring the vineyards. I was seriously tempted to pull a sickie and go too, but didn’t in the end, mainly because the weather was really uninviting. He enjoyed himself, though, as for once someone else was driving. He ended up bringing back four bottles and a magnum of champagne.

Saturday was really poor weather-wise: drizzly and cold. We didn’t do a huge amount: food shopping, coffee at Caffè Sapore (thank God they do loyalty cards!), hat shopping (for Jon) at the amazing store on Washington Square, then a DVD in the afternoon. We watched a new film partly set in San Francisco, but aside from the stunning shots of the city, it wasn’t very good. In the evening, we took the cable car to a French restaurant I’d been wanting to try on Nob Hill. The food was very good, but I have now been sufficiently Americanised as to wonder where the rest of my portion was!

It dawned a beautiful morning today, so I made Jon get up and take me out running, as I felt better and wanted to do some exercise after all the slobbing around of the past week. For a change, we went in the car to Crissy Field, which is where we usually turn around when we run from the flat, and jogged from there along the waterfront to Fort Point, just under the Golden Gate Bridge, and back. A tour guide was regaling a group with grim tales of the bridge's suicides (at least two people jump every month). Spied a couple of pelicans, although I think that most of them have gone wherever they go for the winter now. There were also some crazy surfers and lots of dogs, as usual, many jogging with their owners. It was stunning.

After a hearty (late) breakfast, we drove to super-posh Seacliff in the West of the city and did a little walk from there. It’s one we’ve done many times, but this time we found a new path leading down to a beach strewn with the remains of a shipwreck. There were some wonderful viewpoints along the way, and the rocky beach was being dramatically pounded by huge waves in the afternoon sun. Someone had also been engaged in rock balancing, which only served to add to the rugged beauty of the place. En route, we saw dolphins leaping along on their way down the coast. Whenever I go to this area, I’m amazed by its sheer natural splendour, which is all the more surprising, given that it’s still in the “city”.

In the late afternoon, we headed downtown, first through North Beach, where we took a coffee at a café on Columbus, then through the heart of Chinatown down Grant Avenue. We went around a few shops but didn’t find anything, hampered by the eternal problems of shopping in the sales, so we caught the cable car back. For a change, we took the Powell-Hyde car, which I’d never been on before, but that’s the one that scales the most vertiginous hills. We got off at the top of Lombard Street, which is where the famously sinuous part is, and made our way down to the apartment, enjoying the night-time vistas over the city: the twinkling lights of Alcatraz, Coit Tower, the Bay Bridge and the skyscrapers of the financial district. People must be bored of me waxing lyrical about the place all the time, but I still feel like I’m in a dream or on a film set every time I step outside the door or even look out of my window. Every day is gorged with sensations, all within a few square miles.

Note that I'm sporting my new ski jacket in the picture, as well as my ear muffs (Christmas present!) from the cool shop on Washington Square.

Not an entirely Heavenly weekend

Eager to use our season lift passes for the first time, we headed up to Lake Tahoe on Friday night with a group of friends (eight of us in total, in two cars). We made it there safely, even though I was somewhat worried about the road conditions: it was pretty icy in places, and in fact the temperature went down as low as -14°C. Our motel was right by the lake, and we had a great “suite” that slept up to eight people, so it was perfect, except for the fact that the hot tub was out of action.

We awoke to a sunny morning on Saturday and went to get our lift passes and skis. This took ages – there were lots of people. Once we’d sorted all that out, it was up on the gondola (which affords truly amazing views over the lake as you head up) to take in the runs of the Heavenly ski resort (that’s its name, really). While it’s still quite early in the season, which meant that a few runs were closed, the snow was pretty good and we had a really nice day’s skiing. I managed not to fall over at all. Jon did a few times, but mainly when he was trying to be clever, by doing jumps, for example. It’s hard to describe just how incredible the views are from up there. You can look down to the vast lake on one side of the mountain range, then down much further to a huge expanse of plains on the other, probably about 7,000 feet below. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so I can’t share it with you!

In the evening, we had a curry that Chris (one of our party) had made, then went out to a bar in one of the casinos. They really are weird places. Interesting to take a look at, but far from being my cup of tea! Certainly a very different world from San Francisco, peopled by a wide variety of folk, some of whom could easily be rednecks and probably quite a few of whom vote for George Bush. I couldn’t believe how much hassle I was given trying to get into the bar. Now, to go into most bars in America, you need to show ID, even when you’re clearly over the minimum drinking age of 21. So, I always carry my UK driver’s licence around for that very purpose. However, they didn’t like that at Cabo Wabo (the Tahoe bar) and asked for U.S. issued ID. Well, it just so happened that I had my U.S. Department of Homeland Security Work Authorization card on me, because I’d brought it as photo ID for my lift pass, but the guy didn’t like that either and had to call his manager over. Bear in mind – all this is just to determine that I’m over the age of 21! Anyway, they finally let me in, but what a joke! Especially as I only ended up drinking water anyway!

Back at the motel, I had maybe a couple of hours’ sleep before waking up feeling nauseous. The rest of the night was spent on the toilet. I suppose I’ll never know what it was: food poisoning, stomach bug… even altitude sickness was suggested, but needless to say, Sunday was a complete write-off. Jon very sweetly went out to get me drinks and Imodium in the morning, and took my skis back, while I lay around unable to do anything. Everyone went off skiing, and all I could do was sit in the reception area (got kicked out of the room at 11:30 am), dropping off every now and then, until they all returned. At least it was a nice reception – sofas, fire pit, Christmas tree, view of lake and snowy mountains – but it didn’t compensate for missing a day of skiing in near perfect conditions. It was then a long drive back to San Francisco, with a dinner stop at a diner in Vacaville, followed by a very deep sleep for me!
I went to work today, while Jon did the shopping, picked up the turkey and made more mince pies. I got an emergency call at lunchtime because there were no brussels sprouts in Safeway or Trader Joe's, but I got lucky in the supermarket near my work. Tomorrow we’re catering for ten. It should be good fun – just hope I have some appetite back by then.

Not an especially blog-worthy weekend

Just a quick blog this time, as I don’t think there’s a huge amount to say. So, what have I done in the last week or so? Well, last Wednesday I went to see a friend from work play with his band in a bar, which was fun, although the lead singer was possibly the cheesiest guy on earth! On Thursday, I went to see a film at the Alliance Française, touted to be a French Christmas flick. Well, it was the usual stuff so typical of French films – lots of moodiness, infidelity and nothing really tied up at the end, but at least it was good for my language practice! Especially since I got to chat to work friend Elizabeth’s native speaker Algerian husband. Wow, that was a complex sentence!

On Saturday we did lots of cooking: Jon baked mince pies and I made two Christmas puddings. The mince pies are great – you’ll have to wait for a verdict on the puddings. In the evening it was my office Christmas party at a fairly upscale restaurant called “Paragon”, located south of Market Street. The food was great. We also had an open bar, which for me turned out to be not such a good idea. However, it was a fun night, even if it was then followed by the apparently post-thirty (trentagenarian?) concept of the two-day hangover, which was not so enjoyable. Don’t worry: I’ve vowed NEVER to do it again! So, not a great amount got accomplished on Sunday, but we did try out another North Beach Italian restaurant in the evening and then went to see the Christmas decorations downtown.

The other thing I did at the office party was invite three more people to Christmas dinner. I’m now up to ten! Yikes! Ordered a free-range turkey from the Farmer’s Market at the Ferry Building yesterday for pick-up on Christmas Eve. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Christmas is a-coming

Had a cold last week – I blame the guy who drove the shuttle from the airport, who was making some terrible snuffly noises! Decided to go downtown to do some shopping on Saturday. Jon had some Christmas shopping to do and I wanted to buy something to wear at our office parties. It’s no less hectic shopping in the weeks before Christmas over here: Union Square and Macy’s were packed. Didn’t find anything for the parties, but I did get a new pair of jeans and a handbag. It was then a mad rush to get ready for Jon’s company Christmas party when we got back. We caught the cable car back to Union Square and went to the dinner at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel. It was certainly a fun evening, although I didn’t think the food was that great. Afterwards we went to a couple of bars: one near the hotel and then the classic Savoy Tivoli back in North Beach. Carefully avoided giving my opinion on George Bush to Jon’s Republican office manager.

Sunday was another beautiful, sunny day, which filled me with a desire to go out for a long walk. This couldn’t be achieved until I’d gone out to the corner shop to get bacon and then cooked pancakes to help cure Jon of his hangover. I did persuade him to go for a hike, though. On the way, we stopped by the English grocery shop to get some mincemeat for mince pies, which don’t exist over here. We then headed over the Golden Gate to Marin County and did a pleasant six-mile hike up into the hills and around a valley, which offered views of Mount Tamalpais, the North Bay, San Francisco and the ocean with the Farallon Islands in the distance. Saw a few hawks flying around, but no large felines, even though we were on the Bobcat Trail.

On our way back, we stopped at Fort Mason, where Christmas trees were being sold from one of the covered piers. We went in and chose one (pretty pricey), then had fun trying to work out how to fit it in the BMW without scratching the leather seats. Back at the flat, we decorated the tree and Jon set about his pastry “dry run” – making coconut macaroons and raspberry tarts before setting about the mince pies. Before we knew it, it was the end of another weekend. However, I started the week off well with a lovely jog this morning along the waterfront. The views across the Bay to the Bridge are truly amazing as the sun rises.

Second week in Mexico

We were glad to get out of hurricane-struck Mahahual, which was pretty depressing, even though our hosts went to such great efforts to make our stay as pleasant as possible. From there, we drove to the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage site. We were now in rural Mexico, a very different world from the reasonably well-off tourist hotspots up the coast. On the way, we visited the Mayan site at Becan, which had a good array of structures including a classic stepped pyramid.

I was a bit disappointed with our accommodation. It was quite expensive, and the website looked wonderful, so I was expecting “luxury in the jungle”. Rather, it was a case of woefully inadequate mosquito nets, expensive but less than stellar food, and a grumpy waiter/receptionist who only spoke Spanish. Now, although I’m a linguist, I’ve never learnt Spanish; I understand the written language pretty well, but was struggling with communication in my pidgin creation, which consisted of speaking Italian and throwing in the odd Spanish word! It was also incredibly hot and humid there, and we were kept awake by weird growlings, which turned out to be howler monkeys (pretty cool!). The good thing about the place was that it was well located for visiting the Mayan city of Calakmul itself, set deep in the heart of the jungle near the border with Guatemala, some 60km down a narrow dead-end road. We wandered around for ages, wondering what all the fuss was about, then finally stumbled on a huge pyramid. Once we’d climbed it and got above the trees, we had a fabulous view: jungle in every direction as far as the eye could see, with the odd partially excavated Mayan structure poking out above the canopy. On the way back to the car, Jon spied a toucan, but I missed it. We did, however, see several parakeets, wild turkeys and a tarantula.

From Calakmul, we moved on to Campeche, a pleasant colonial town on the Gulf of Mexico coast. We hadn’t planned to go there, but we were both craving a return to civilisation! It was a lovely place: historic cobbled streets lined with colonial-style homes in a palette of pastel shades. We had dinner at a restaurant overlooking the central plaza with its classic twin-towered cathedral. The next day, we continued to the larger city of Mérida. It too had an attractive colonial-style plaza, and we did a bus tour to get our bearings. However, I wasn’t wild about the place. It may have had a million inhabitants but it felt provincial, was polluted, confusing and rather worn. We had just one night there, rather than the two we had planned, and moved on to Chichen Itza afterwards, the best preserved and most famous of the Mayan sites in the area. The hotel there was a pleasant surprise: it was really cheap, yet it was friendly and had a couple of pleasant sun decks and swimming pools. On the first day, we visited some caves with more stalactites and stalagmites, where Mayans had left hundreds of jars as offerings to the gods. It was a bit spooky, especially since it was inhabited by a good number of bats. In the evening, we went to the sound and light show at the great pyramid, saving our more extensive visit of the site for the next day. We went early, to get a head start on the coach-loads of visitors from Cancun. There were lots of structures dating from around 800 to 1200 A.D., including a fabulous ball court, a platform decorated with carvings of skulls (where the Mayans actually displayed the heads of their enemies and human sacrifices) and an impressive central pyramid. What surprised me, however, was how little is known about the purpose of the buildings and the ceremonies the Mayans performed. There are several structures that the Spanish conquistadors named according to what they looked like to them – an observatory and a nunnery, for example – which are still not properly identified even today. Chichen Itza was certainly impressive, but not as fun as Calakmul, which really had that “lost in the jungle” feel, where you could scale the pyramids to your heart’s content (they were all roped off at Chichen Itza).

We took a long detour up to a remote fishing village on the northern coast of the peninsula called Rio Lagartos, an area of wetlands rich in wildlife. Travelling up there was a pleasure – we passed through several, “typically” Mexican villages, with old churches, sunny plazas, children playing. When we got to our destination, we managed to commandeer a boat and captain to take us on a ride to see the flamingo colony. The birds were some distance away, but it was still lovely to see them in the wild. The water of the lagoon they inhabited was ultra-salty and tinged pink by beta carotene in the clay, which was also the cause of their colouring. On the way back we saw a crocodile. The boatman put on a show by slapping the water and encouraging the croc to come so close that he could grab its tail! We also saw a fish eagle and an osprey. It was then a long drive to downtown Cancun, where we spent the night in a nice hotel, revelling in the cleanliness!

Our flight was in the afternoon, so we went to the airport via the “Zona hotelera” (the hotel zone) of Cancun, a long row of gargantuan, primarily upscale hotels strung out along narrow islands enclosing a lagoon on one side, with the Caribbean Sea on the other, connected to the mainland by a series of bridges. This is what Cancun is famous for, but I really disliked it. Sure, the sea is an incredible colour, ranging from brightest turquoise near the white sand shoreline to deepest blue on the horizon. However, it’s a completely fabricated place, constructed with little thoughtfulness, and most of the hotels are just plain ugly. I don’t know what people see in it, but I was glad we’d gone to take a look. I had some criticisms about the trip as a whole, but two weeks in Cancun would have been miserable!

We were relieved to make the rather tight connection in Mexico City and arrived back to a rather chilly San Francisco late yesterday evening to find signs of Christmas cheer everywhere: lights around the skyscrapers and even a brightly lit tree on Angel Island, which we see behind Alcatraz from the apartment. Today we awoke to the sound of our own flock of parrots chattering loudly as they passed by in their morning flight, and were glad to be home in our beloved city with drinking water on tap, decent plumbing and a distinct lack of mosquitoes! I know I sound terribly condescending and don’t mean to – it’s just that you appreciate these things more when you’ve not had them for a while! We had lots of chores, but took a short jog in the afternoon, delighting in the fact that the beaches are open again and there’s no longer a smell of oil after the spill. We’re still having a nightmare sorting our remortgage out for the house back home (boring!), so I’m crossing my fingers for that as well as hoping that the return to work won’t be too much of a shock tomorrow. Photos from Mexico are available here: http://public.fotki.com/EllenHardwick/mexico/ (password: moocow)